


Surprises and Promises

by Insert Witty Username Here (Insert_Witty_Username_Here)



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:15:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29566674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insert_Witty_Username_Here/pseuds/Insert%20Witty%20Username%20Here
Summary: When Ann breaks up with Leslie out of the blue, Leslie has to find out why. The reason turns out to be something she could never even imagine.
Relationships: Leslie Knope/Ann Perkins
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Surprises and Promises

**Author's Note:**

> A little oneshot idea that wouldn't leave me alone, set about six months after Mark left. There might be a second chapter at some point but I'm leaving it as a oneshot for now.

"Ann" Leslie beamed as she answered the phone to her girlfriend, "what a nice surprise, I wasn't expecting to hear from you this morning…"

"Leslie" the blonde frowned as she heard the tears in the other woman's voice, "something's come up, I, I can't meet you for lunch and, well, it's probably better if we didn't see each other again. I'm so, so sorry Leslie." 

Ann ended the call before Leslie could even take in her words, had Ann just broken up with her? Had she done something wrong? She knew they hadn't been together all that long, in fact, she wasn't even sure how they ended up 'together' at all. They'd kissed one night after Ann's break up with Mark, when they'd both been drunk, and they just hadn't stopped kissing since. It had been almost six months since their first kiss and Leslie thought things were going well, they'd both agreed to take things slowly, had managed to keep the change in their relationship just between the two of them and she couldn't understand why Ann would do this to her without reason or warning. 

She called Ann seventeen times in the next five minutes but each call went unanswered, so Leslie gathered her things and made her way to Ron's office, walking in without knocking, "I need to take the rest of the day off." 

"Okay" Ron didn't look up from the piece of wood he was carving. 

"Okay?" Leslie frowned, "don't you need to know why? Isn't there paperwork to fill in? I know that…" 

"Leslie" Ron interrupted, still only focused on his carving, "you've taken no vacation time and just one sick day in the past four years. Have the afternoon off, hell, take the rest of the week off, I don't care. If anyone asks where you are I'll lie."

"I'm not sure I quite approve of you lying about my whereabouts Ron, what if there's an emergency or…" Leslie shook her head "you know what, I don't have time for this, I have an emergency of my own to deal with so I'll just say thank you and leave. Thank you" she said before walking out of Ron's office. 

She'd been gone for almost ten minutes when Ron mumbled "you're welcome" into the empty room. 

Leslie barely waited for her car to come to a complete stop in the hospital parking lot before she jumped out, walking as fast as she could towards the entrance, she needed to find Ann and she needed to find her now. She was a little surprised to be told Ann was on a different ward to the one she usually worked on, but it was only when the staff on that ward asked if she was a relative, and then gave her a room number that Leslie realised. Ann was a patient. She knocked once on the door before stepping inside the room and suddenly it hit her, the soft pastel walls, the posters of glowing women advertising vitamins, the band strapped around Ann's stomach, this was the maternity ward. "Ann" she whispered as she stood frozen in the doorway. 

"No" Ann's voice caught in her throat, tears that hadn't stopped since she'd been told she was in labour still running down her cheeks, "you can't be here Leslie, you, you can't…" 

"Ann" Leslie moved closer to the bed, dropping her bag before wrapping her arms around the other woman, she wasn't entirely sure what was going on but she could tell Ann was terrified, and if she could do something, anything to help her then she would. 

"I'm sorry" Ann sobbed against Leslie's chest. "I'm so so sorry." 

"It's okay" Leslie rubbed Ann's back and kissed her hair, "it's okay, I've got you, it's okay." 

"It's not okay" Ann cried, "I'm having a baby Leslie, I'm having a… owww" almost right on cue Ann felt her stomach tighten and she gripped at Leslie's shirt, not sure whether she wanted Leslie to leave her now so she didn't have to deal with the rejection later, or if she wanted to cling to her and never let go. 

"I know" Leslie ran her fingers through Ann's hair, "keep breathing, don't hold your breath, you're okay." 

"Leslie" Ann whimpered. 

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere" Yes she was surprised to find out Ann was in labour and yes she had a million and one questions buzzing around her head but she knew that Ann needed her support right now, there would be time for questions later. 

"I didn't know" Ann whispered, "I promise you, I, I went to one of the doctors when, I, I… I thought I had appendicitis and he, I, I didn't know Leslie." 

Leslie could only imagine what was going through Ann's mind right now, she knew how confused and worried she was, she had absolutely no idea it felt for Ann to only find out she was pregnant when she went into labour. As she thought back, Leslie realised she hadn't noticed any symptoms of pregnancy in the other woman, she hadn't even noticed her putting on weight. Now she knew, she could see a slight curve to Ann's stomach but she definitely look like a woman about to give birth, "I believe you" Leslie wiped at Ann's tears, "but we can talk later, we've got all the time in the world, I'm not going anywhere." 

"You, you're not?" Ann sounded surprised. 

"Would you leave if it was me in that bed?" she saw Ann's face scrunch in discomfort before she had the chance to answer, and once again Leslie encouraged her to breathe through the contraction.

"I, I'd stay with you" Ann finally answered Leslie's question. 

"And I'm staying with you."

"They, they think it's early" Ann whispered. Five or six weeks, and I, I've been drinking, we go out and I, I was getting drunk and I was pregnant. What if I've… "

"Ann, you need to calm down" Leslie told her as she continued to hold her in her arms, "it's okay, whatever happens we'll deal with it when it happens, but for now, let's just try and calm down, you sound like you're about to hyperventilate." 

Luckily Leslie managed to calm Ann down to the point where, despite her contractions, she managed to doze off to sleep. Leslie needed something to do, she needed to feel productive so she took out her phone and decided to buy some essentials for the baby. Obviously she wanted Ann to be able to buy things for her child too, but Leslie thought it wouldn't hurt to buy diapers and a car seat to take the baby home. But then she had another thought. What if Ann didn't want to keep the baby? She'd never mentioned wanting children, but then again, she'd never mentioned not wanting children. This had all been such a shock though, had she had time to give it proper thought? Would she think Leslie buying things for the baby meant she had to keep it? But if she did want to keep it, it would need clothes and diapers and probably a crib to sleep in… Leslie thought it over for a while, making a mental pros and cons list before deciding to order some things. She could have them delivered to her own house and if Ann wanted them she could go get them, if they turned out not to be necessary, Leslie could send them back. 

Ann didn't sleep for long and woke just over thirty minutes later, her contractions a lot stronger and more frequent than before, "do you want to stand up?" Leslie asked, "I've seen it on TV, apparently if you're upright gravity helps, but it's your choice, you don't have to do anything, if you just want to stay like that then…" 

"Leslie" Ann cut her off, "I…" she didn't know how to ask Leslie for her help, she wasn't sure if Leslie even wanted to help or if she was just here because she felt like she had to be. 

"What can I do?" Leslie reached for a damp cloth and wiped at Ann's clammy forehead. 

"I do want to stand up" Ann told her, "but I don't know if I can."

"Okay" Leslie nodded, she could help with that, maybe she wouldn't feel so useless if she was helping in some way. "Can you shuffle round so you're sitting on the edge of the bed. Ann nodded, and with a little help from Leslie moved so her legs were hanging off the side of the bed. She stayed where she was as she had another contraction before Leslie helped her to her feet. Ann gasped at the change in position, the pain she'd been feeling in the small of her back seemed to lessen almost instantly, but the pressure between her legs only seemed to be replaced by an increased pressure between her legs. "Okay?" Leslie asked, wrapping her arms around Ann to help support her. 

"Yeah" Ann mumbled, her arms around Leslie's shoulders, "feels good."

They were still in the same position a while later when a nurse came in to check on Ann, Ann's head on Leslie's shoulder as they swayed together, almost as if they were slow dancing to a song only they could hear. The nurse smiled as she saw them, glad that Ann had someone to support her now. She asked her if she could check how she was progressing, Ann slowly making her way back into the bed so she could be examined. She was uncomfortable but Leslie did what she could to distract her and take her mind off what was going on. The nurse told Ann she was progressing well before helping her back to her feet, echoing Leslie's words, that being upright would help the baby move down her birth canal. 

Ann paled at the mention of her 'birth canal' she'd barely had chance to process the fact that she'd had a baby inside her, she certainly wasn't ready to think about the fact that baby needed to come out of her, and she certainly didn't want to think about how that baby was going to come out of her. Leslie saw the frown etched on Ann's face as they stood together, Leslie once again supporting Ann's weight as she swayed with her, so she did the only thing she could think of to break her from her thoughts, she kissed her temple and whispered in her ear, "I love you." 

Ann looked like she wanted to cry as she clung to Leslie, letting her head fall onto her shoulder as she whispered, "I love you too." 

Leslie was in awe of Ann, she always knew she was strong, but it was only as Leslie watched her fight to bring her child into the world that she realised just how strong Ann really was, and that only made Leslie love her more. Ann on the other hand couldn't believe Leslie had stayed with her, her life was about to turn upside down, nothing would ever be the same again, but Leslie had just been, well, she'd been Leslie, she'd supported and encouraged Ann, found ways to keep her going when all she wanted to do was give up, and, less than six hours after Ann found out she was pregnant, it was Leslie who tearfully announced, "it's a girl Ann, it's a girl and she's absolutely beautiful."

The silence in the room was almost deafening, "w, why isn't she crying?" Ann began to panic, "she's meant to cry, why can't I hear her crying?" Leslie said nothing, she didn't know what she could say, she just held Ann's hand, silently praying over and over again for the baby to be okay. She felt sick, she knew the baby was unplanned but neither of them wanted this, she closed her eyes, crying tears of relief and pulling Ann into her arms, kissing her fiercely when, after seconds that felt like days, there was a quiet cry from the infant. "Leslie" Ann cried, into her shoulder "Leslie."

"I know" Leslie clung to Ann and kissed her hair, "it's okay, she's okay." 

"Where are they taking her?" Ann began to panic again when she saw a nurse walking away from the bed with her baby, "where's she going with my baby?" 

"We're just going to give her a quick once over" another nurse reassured her, "she's just in the corner, she might need a little bit of oxygen but that's okay, a lot of babies, especially those that are a little bit early need some extra help, being born is a big shock for them. Once she's been given a once over you'll get to have a cuddle" she promised. 

"Leslie" Ann looked up at her, "I don't, she... "

"It's okay" Ann didn't need to ask, Leslie knew what she wanted, the baby might just be at the other side of the room but Ann didn't want her to be 'alone' so Leslie moved to stand by the nurses checking over the newborn, smiling as she saw the infant kicking and squirming as she was checked over. 

"Right are you ready for a cuddle?" the nurse asked, turning to Leslie and holding out the a wriggling bundle of towels. 

"Me?" if she wasn't so worried and exhausted, Ann would have laughed at the look of shock on Leslie's face, "no, I, she isn't, Ann, her mo…" 

"Leslie" Ann's voice was little more than a whisper but Leslie picked it out over all the other noise in the room in an instant, "bring her over here please, I'd like to see her." 

Leslie nodded and allowed the nurse to place the baby in her arms, surprised when the baby quietened slightly in her hold, "oh look at you" Leslie started crying, "you're so beautiful aren't you, just like your Mommy. And she's going to be the best Mommy in the world, I know she is" she carefully carried the baby across the room and handed her over to Ann, kissing Ann's temple as she did, "congratulations." 

Ann burst into tears almost as soon as she felt the weight of her daughter in her arms, "I've had a baby" she cried. "I, I've had a baby." 

"You have" Leslie smiled, kissing Ann's hair again, "you were amazing, but you always are." 

Ann let one of the nurses help her latch the baby onto her breast before looking up at Leslie, Leslie swiping away Ann's tears with her thumbs. "I couldn't have done it without you." 

"Yes you could" Leslie smiled, "but you didn't have to, and no matter what you might think, you don't have to do anything that comes next on your own. I know there's a lot to think about, a lot of conversations that need to happen, between us and between you and… I'm going to say Mark" Ann nodded, "but I'm here, for both of you, whether that's as a friend or as your partner, whatever you want, whatever you need Ann, I'm here. I love you and this…" she gently stroked the cheek of the infant feeding at Ann's breast, "she doesn't take away that love I have for you."

Ann's voice shook as she looked up at Leslie, "promise?" 

"I promise" Leslie brushed Ann's hair back from her face and kissed her forehead, "I know that things will be different now, but you've got me, however you want me, for as long as you want me." 

"Good" Ann whispered, pulling Leslie down so she could kiss her lips gently, "because I don't think I could do this without you." 

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has any ideas for oneshots that they'd like me to have a go at writing, feel free to share in the comments.


End file.
